Botanical Species

The Convent of the Capuchos is set in an area of surrounding woodland, a rare example of the former forest of the Serra de Sintra. Its vegetation was particularly favourable for the protection of the Franciscan friars who inhabited the building for several centuries. Because of their unique nature, these remains of the earlier forest are an important natural treasure that needs to be preserved. Some of the woodland’s trees date from the time when the convent was still inhabited.

When visiting the woodland in the convent enclosure, it is possible to find small places set aside for worship and meditation, such as the Hermitage of Ecce Homo, the Chapel of the Crucifixion and the viewing point from where visitors can contemplate the surrounding hills and enjoy the sweeping view all the way to the Atlantic Ocean.

As they make their way down from the viewing point, visitors will find a rocky hollow in a hidden nook of the woodland that Friar Honório de Santa Maria chose as his favourite place of private retreat for thirty years, in preference to his cell in the convent, as described by Friar António da Piedade in his Crónicas da Província da Arrábida (1728).